The Sixth One
by Mr. D 91
Summary: [Sequel to It runs in the family] It's been almost three years since the defeat of Dr. Heinous, but the prophecy still lingers on. The other experiments have to be found in order to defeat Experiment 6. [On Haitus]
1. Capture of a hybrid

Well, it's finally here, dudes. After several months of planning, it's finally here. Enjoy this chapter, as I doubt updates will be very often. There is still a big chunk of the story I have to work out. I think that this story will be my longest ever, maybe even reaching one hundred chapters.

It's been awhile since most of you read 'It runs in the family', and I don't blame any of you if you forgot some important details and don't feel like reading it again. So, just tell me in a review or PM to remind you of what you forgot, and I'll do so in the next chapter, or privately, if you prefer.

Aside from that, don't bug me about putting your OC in, okay? I have worked everything out, and require no assistance, unless I ask for it. I might ask a random person in a PM about something specific, but that could just be it.

Here we go…

* * *

The small, suburban district was quiet under the cool, moonlit sky. The streetlamps gave off a calm neon aura. It was a few minutes to midnight, and there was almost no activity. 

Almost…

Everyone held their position above the two-story houses at the street corner, facing a convenience store. They knew exactly who'd be visiting this particular area, and had planned when to strike.

Pincer was their target. He was an abomination, if anyone ever saw one. Not much could be said about a typically sized lombax wearing an old-fashioned leather jacket over a white vest with raggedy blue jeans, and in scruffy combat boots. However, if someone were to look at his head, then they'd be disgusted by the phenomena. Everyone in Solana had to accept the fact that all aliens are different. Pincer was possibly the only exception. His furry neck supported the full body of a buginoid, jointed at the belly. It was as if someone had decapitated a lombax and replaced his head with an insect being. Nevertheless, the amateur thief treated the second body as a cranium.

The first thing the freak did was use a stolen Gadgetron device. Not only did this unlock the door, but it also deactivated all the security systems, including cameras. The lombax-buginoid hybrid could 'get the goods' and slip out simple as that.

The next thing he did was pull on two pairs of stolen gloves from his pocket…followed by a pair of socks. In short, no fingerprints…or toe prints. It was useless, considering that everyone would know it was him by morning.

The owner of this store was a 'family guy'. He had two kids and a pregnant wife, and worked hard enough to put food on the table. Pincer didn't know nor care who owned this place. He just wanted the bolts in the register.

He walked in, his mandibles twitching, all sixteen of his knuckles cracked.

Outside, everyone crouched at the ready. They knew that they could take Pincer down. In fact, only one of them would go, and then call for backup, if required.

They didn't have to wait long. Pincer came out, holding a bag of bolts. He wasn't cocky about it, he wasn't talking to himself about it; he was just heading for the nearest manhole that would be his escape. He removed the gloves and socks, stored them in his jacket, and looked around.

Pincer found a manhole within seconds. It would only take a clawed hand to open it. He kneeled down, let go of the bag for a bit, and slipped his head's left hand under the manhole.

Then, out of the blue, a green gloved hand slapped the manhole cover back down. If Pincer hadn't sensed it, he would be missing a claw. While still kneeling down, he looked.

"Out a little late, aren't you?" Qwark asked him, standing up straight on the manhole cover.

Pincer stepped back. "Mind your own business, you meathead," he hissed in a perfectly normal voice that sounded adolescent.

"Make me," Qwark showed off his pearly whites. With little strain, he swung an open fist towards Pincer's left side.

The crossbreed ducked the swing, and kicked Qwark in the shin. The superhero let out a small cry. Pincer jumped back and stood with the robbed store behind him.

"Had enough, you has-been?" he said gruffly.

"'Has-been'?" Qwark repeated the insult. "You need to update yourself, kid, cuz I renewed myself years ago."

"If you're talking about the Dr. Heinous fiasco, you hardly did jack," Pincer pointed a furry finger.

"What do you mean?" Qwark fumed. "I destroyed a ship!"

"Pffft, big whoop."

"And why did you escape from jail again?" Qwark demanded. "Don't you crooks know that you're just gonna be captured and placed in a more secure cell?"

Pincer shrugged. His mandibles danced as he explained, "I prefer being free."

"And what's with the stealing?" Qwark held up the forgotten bag, shaking it gently as emphasis. "Any person you buy from will recognise you in an instant--!"

A long, sticky substance shot out like a rope, attached itself to the small bag, and retracted like a chameleon's tongue.

Qwark's gaze travelled from Pincer to the device he was holding. The mutant put the bag in his pocket and got into a fighting stance. "I'm not looking for trouble, Qwark."

"Sure, but if you keep stealing, then trouble's gonna find you," Qwark pointed a meaty finger.

Instead of replying, Pincer bent forward, causing his buginoid head/body to do a handstand. The green claws started moving, while the lombax feet kept balance. He charged.

Qwark held his ground, and grabbed the freak's second pair of feet. The first pair tried to move, but the costumed one was too strong.

Pincer then took advantage of this. His lombax body went on all fours as the buginoid hands grabbed Qwark's ankles. Then, the hybrid stood up straight with incredible speed, tossing Qwark over him.

"Whoaaaaa--OOFFF!" Qwark's belly met the asphalt. He skidded and came to a stop as his large chin collided with the pavement's slightly higher level. "Oooohhh," he stood up and rubbed his chin. His bruised face frowned as he spun around to face Pincer, "Why you--YIPES!" he ducked with his hands over his head just in time to miss a bright blue plasma ray.

The wall behind him was scorched.

On the other side of the road, Pincer was holding a laser gun called the Plasma Gun (rather plain) in his lombax hand.

"Why don't you just leave me alone?" Pincer barked. "I'm just doing my damn best to survive in this harsh galaxy!"

"If you're meaning that you want an easier life," Qwark spoke as he stood up straight, "then go to the Milky Way Galaxy. Experts proved that hardly anything interesting happens there."

"I'd like a little spark in life."

"Then just give me a welder's kit and bend over. How's that for 'spark'?"

"Has anyone ever told you how stupid you are?"

"As anyone ever told you how ugly _you_ are?"

Pincer's compound eyes narrowed. He pointed his gun and fired again. Several cobalt beams flew towards Qwark's position.

Qwark smirked, this time ready. He ran to one side of the street, jumping and ducking random shots. He reached into his utility belt and pulled out a single Multi-Disc shuriken. He threw it as he ran across the deserted road.

**SW-SW-SW-SW-SWISH-_CLANK!.!.!_**

"DAH!" Pincer rubbed his wrist as the gun in his hand was cut in two. "Aren't you a ninja….thing?" he muttered sarcastically.

"Are you done yet?" Qwark was ten-feet-away from him now. "Or do ya wanna make your sentence longer than it already is?"

"SHUT UP!" this time, Pincer equipped a Liquid Nitrogen Gun. He ran towards the latex-clad man, spraying a gush of freezing death.

Qwark's eyes bulged. With a gasp, he jumped back, fumbling in his belt for another weapon. However, Pincer equipped a Bomb Glove and tossed an explosive between Qwark's feet. The blast sent the superhero flying.

"Whoaaaa-aaaaaaa--OOF!" Qwark screamed again, and crashed into a garbage can, sending trash into the road.

"That's littering," Pincer sneered as he approached him with both weapons equipped. "What's your punishment gonna be, hm?"

Qwark suddenly smiled smugly. "A front row seat to you being hit by a rodent."

One of Pincer's eyes narrowed, equivalent to raising an eyebrow, "Huh?"

Suddenly, out from an adjacent alley, a booted foot came and struck Pincer in his left lombax shoulder, knocking the weapons out of his hands. The attacker landed from his assault as Pincer went tumbling into the road.

The freak got up, looked, and hissed. "You….."

"The one and only," Ratchet said with his gloved hands on his hips. He stood in his old school clothing; green pants, brown gloves, a belt strap, and aviator's helmet. He was also wearing his Charge Boots.

Qwark stood up and dusted himself off. "Thanks for helping me out, Ratchet," it was quite humble of him to say this.

Ratchet's smile was visible under the dim streetlamp, "You're welcome." Then, he frowned, "And don't call me a rodent."

"Dooley noted."

"Aren't you getting bored of all this thievery, Pincer?" Ratchet asked the hybrid, leaning his head to the side as he equipped his wrench.

"For the last stinkin' time, it's my way of life!"

"Well, your way of life stinks!" Qwark shot back from Ratchet's side.

"NRAAAAAGH!.!.!" Pincer made four fists and ran forward.

Ratchet jumped up high, but Qwark stayed in place. The green one grabbed one buginoid fist and one lombax fist. He did a head butt, and winced after banging his cranium against the freak's tough exoskeleton. He let go and stumbled back with crossed eyes and a spinning head.

Pincer prepared to jump him, but was tripped by Ratchet's crouching kick from behind. He fell forward and stopped himself with a pair of crusty hands. His buginoid self somersaulted forward, towards Qwark, with a push. Qwark side-stepped just in time to avoid Pincer's kick. Now, the freak's buginoid section was on all fours, but with his back facing downward. His lombax body was upside-down.

Ratchet and Qwark cocked eyebrows.

"I don't have this body as a head just for kicks, y'know," Pincer hissed. He did a flip and stood on his lombax feet. "And now, you're gonna be cut down to size." He equipped a big, red chainsaw from a stolen storage watch he had, wrapped around his wrist. The machine buzzed loudly.

Qwark and Ratchet's eyes bulged as Pincer sprinted towards them holding the chainsaw in his buginoid hands.

Qwark equipped a Swingshot, and fired up. The hook caught itself onto a railing on a second story balcony, and the gadget pulled the superhero away from danger.

Ratchet jumped to the side, landed in a role, stopped, and knelt on one knee so he could hold his wrench up to block the downward slash Pincer sent after a jump. Sparks flew as the chainsaw ate at the thick, black metal that was Ratchet's primary weapon.

The lombax clenched his teeth, descending before Pincer's unnatural strength.

The hybrid narrowed his eyes. He placed all four of his hands on the weapon, applying more weight. Ratchet couldn't last any longer.

"Hold on!" Qwark yelled as he sprinted. "I'm coming!" he equipped a Walloper to be ready.

Pincer hissed, spun around, and aimed the motorised tool at Qwark with his buginoid hands.

Qwark blocked with his Walloper just in time, causing Pincer's upper hands to rise with the chainsaw.

The superhero swiped forward.

Pincer arched to the side. "HAH!" he jumped forward and uppercut Qwark in his big chin.

"OOF!" Qwark spat, and teetered backwards.

"AAAAAGH!" Pincer let out a warcry and prepared to slice the green one down the middle. Instead, Ratchet performed a comet-strike behind the mutant, hitting him in the back of the legs. "DAAAAAH!" Pincer let out a cry of surprise, and dropped the chainsaw.

The weapon struck the charging Qwark right in the foot as it fell.

"……"

"……"

"……"

Nothing happened. The chainsaw bounced off, buzzed and rotated.

"……..whew…," Qwark sighed in relief.

"Hmm," Pincer hummed, on his back with his buginoid head/body sprawled on his lombax belly while his neck stretched, "guess it's true that you lost a foot in the Dr. Heinous battle…"

"Yup," Ratchet nodded with his wrench. "And he had a replacement."

Pincer let out an annoyed growl again. He stood up while balancing on his buginoid feet and lombax hands, bent his lombax legs, and propelled both of his bodies towards Qwark's midsection.

Qwark literally flew and banged his head against a pipe in a small alley. With a groan, he slumped to the ground, knocked out.

Pincer stood up and picked up his chainsaw. He turned and faced Ratchet. "Let's dance!" he leapt at him with the weapon buzzing.

Ratchet spun on his heel and ran towards the robbed convenience store. It wasn't out of fear; more out of having an idea. When he was sure it was the right time, he whipped around and fired a bright blue beam at the hybrid.

Pincer's eyes shut briefly has he held up his chainsaw in defence; just as Ratchet hoped for. The blue beam suddenly became a liquid and covered the cutting tool. Pincer dropped it and watched as the blue substance dissolved the weapon. His fists clenched…but then he stopped after noticing his Bomb Glove and Liquid Nitrogen Gun a few feet away. Ignoring Ratchet, he ran for them.

The lombax saw him and used his wrench in a comet-strike. Pincer sensed it coming, and jumped. He landed near the weapons, picked up the Glove, did a spin, and tossed a bomb in Ratchet's direction.

Ratchet timed it right, and hit the bomb with his wrench. There was an explosion to his side. Pincer ignored his gun, preparing the glove he had slipped onto his right hand. "Still gonna annoy me?" he asked.

Ratchet smirked as he crouched, "And how."

Pincer's eyes narrowed for the umpteenth time, "Your funeral, rat boy." He ran towards him, tossing bombs.

Ratchet ran side-to-side, barely escaping being blown up. He jumped over the freak, and vaulted off his back.

"OOF!" Pincer lurched forward. He spun around, and let more explosives fly.

Ratchet flew towards a building. He twirled his body, kicked off a doorframe, and soared in Pincer's direction.

The hybrid was ready, and threw another explosive. Ratchet equipped his Walloper and punched it away.

Pincer moved backwards, so the lombax wouldn't land on him. Ratchet took advantage of this by landing in a role, leaping over his enemy, and grabbing him by his buginoid abdomen. The lombax arched his back, and then straightened immediately, causing him and Pincer to rotate, and throwing the freak over himself.

**WHUMP!**

Pincer fell on his belly.

"Nnngh!" he hastily got up, grumbled, and made to throw another bomb.

…

…

…

"Huh?" Pincer looked at his weapon. To his irritability, he was out of ammo. "Crap…"

"It's over, Pincer," Ratchet walked towards him.

Pincer's mandibles seemed to curve upwards in a smile, "It's never over." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a dagger. He tossed it up, caught it with his green hand, jerked his neck forward, and stabbed at the lombax's chest.

"!" Ratchet jolted to the side. He saved his chest, but couldn't say the same about his left shoulder. "AAAGH!" blood seeped out while the dagger was still embedded in his flesh. He fell to his knees, clutching the hilt of the sharp object.

Pincer's eyes narrowed in victory. "Let me help you with that," he said as he bent over to pull the blade out. Ratchet winced in pain as the dagger was plucked from his body. More blood dripped out.

Pincer examined the knife. A long, forked tongue slithered from his mouth, and licked the dagger clean of Ratchet's blood.

"You taste delicious," he hissed, "but I don't have time to kill. Next time, stay out of my way, or there won't be a next time." He left Ratchet walking off. He knew he was victorious enough, and didn't need to go any further. He had the valuables he needed, and was on his way to a manhole.

_"Pssst!"_ a voice called form an alley to his left.

"Hmm?" Pincer stopped. "Who's there?" he spoke to the darkness.

_"Come closer," _a high-pitched, raspy voice beckoned.

"No way," Pincer shook his ugly head. "If this is another attempt at catching me, then you can just kiss my hairy--"

_"I said come closer!" _the voice hissed.

"Bite me," Pincer answered.

_"You asked for it, freak."_

"Who are you, anyway--?..." Pincer's eyes widened in fear as he saw who he was talking to. "N-Not you."

Ratchet grinned from where he was, knowing exactly what was going to happen.

Pincer could see a pair of glowing red eyes in the darkness. Above them, there was an equally red circle. Below them, there was a glowing circle, much bigger. Then, two glowing forearms………two glowing legs. And a glowing groin.

"I-It can't b-be," Pincer stammered, backing away.

"Oh…it is, bug boy," Dr. Nefarious said, standing tall and scary in all his glory. Not all of him could be seen, but Pincer had a good view of his silhouette and glowing body parts. "Wanna play?"

"Y-You're s-supposed to be on--"

"Investigating the attack on Kronos?" Nefarious interrupted with a cocked head. "Kid Nova, W3RM, and The Muscle took over for us." He stepped closer, "Pity…. I wasn't in the mood to take you down again. But, seeing that you have a little arsenal up your sleeve, I'll have to take matters into my own hands."

Pincer swallowed a lump in his throat. His eyes thinned in little bravery. "I'm not going down so easily!" he leapt at him.

Nefarious smirked, "I think you will." He side-stepped.

Pincer landed besides him, and swung a buginoid foot.

Nefarious ducked, and caught it in his metal hands.

Pincer gasped, and kicked at the robot with his mammalian leg. Nefarious caught that one, too. The scientist threw the freak over him.

Pincer reached one of his four hands out, caught a lamppost, did a spin, and flew towards Nefarious with a boot ready to make his head spin.

Nefarious grinned psychotically, and produced two holograms of himself to act as a barrier. Pincer didn't know of the dangers he was headed, and received an electric shock.

**Z-ZAA-AAAP!.!.!.!**

"AAAAAAAAGH!" his big eyes shut slightly. "……ugh….," he fell backwards with his buginoid body sprawled awkwardly on his lombax chest and belly.

"Hehehehe," Nefarious chuckled. "Of all the positions for you to be in a time like this……."

"Nnnngh!" Pincer glared at him. "I'm so gonna--!"

"Lights out, kid," Nefarious pulled a syringe from out of nowhere. "Now, hold still, you little….!" He lowered himself.

They struggled.

"Get off me!"

"You're only gonna make it sting more!"

"Hey! Let go of--OW!" Pincer jumped up high, clutching his rear. He landed on his feet in front of the smiling robot. His eyes were half-closed, "You're……..sooo…….gon-………-na……p-pay……for…" and he fell forward, on his belly.

Nefarious narrowed his eyes at him, "Lights out."

"……," Pincer breathed calmly.

Nefarious turned and walked towards Ratchet. The lombax was busy using a netpack to heal his shoulder. The blood disappeared, and the wound closed, allowing the lombax to stand up, and move his arm with no pain. He tilted his head sixty-five degrees to share eye contact with Dr. Nefarious.

He smiled, "Nice going."

"Thanks, but why didn't you just use that netpack earlier?"

"Eh, didn't wanna spoil your fun," the rodent went back to pick up his wrench.

"I can accept that," Nefarious uttered with a shrug. He looked back at the now snoring hybrid. His red eyes narrowed. "So, what do we do with freak boy over there?"

"Nothing; he won't be waking up anytime--" he noticed that that tranquilizer was sticking out of the freak's butt comically "--……soon." He looked at Nefarious with a brow raised.

"Heh, I think it's funny," the robot spoke.

Ratchet shook his head. "I'm gonna get Qwark," he said in a breath one would use after losing an argument.

"And what do I do?"

"Call the Commissioner, and tell him that the bug's in the spider's web."

"Y'know, ya' could've made a better pun than that, Ratchet."

"…..Whatever. I'm just glad we didn't wake anyone up."

* * *

"Well, spank me, and call me Maxwell! Those punks managed to catch 'im in less than ten minutes this time!" 

"Indeed, sir. Isn't it exciting?"

"………Eh, not really."

Two robots exited their cruiser. They were none other than the Commissioner and the Lieutenant.

Commissioner David stood almost at Qwark's height. His right yellow eye was bigger than his blue left. His eyebrows were very comical. In that, they were semi-circles below his forehead. The right one was higher than the left one. However, his eyebrows and eyes didn't make him look lopsided in any way. His metal body was coated with a blue-metal…ish colour, bringing out the glowing circle in the centre of his torso. One small antenna stood on the top of his head. Instead of a nose, he had two tiny holes for nostrils. He had a square-shaped jaw, with evenly-spread teeth. Both his arms were identical, bulky, like a ranger's right arm. His legs were thinner, and his spiked knees resembled padding. Around his metallic waist, there was a belt, supporting holsters with Blasters and N60 Storms. Unlike the rangers, he wasn't so……..'hunched'. And lastly, he had the mark of the Commissioner on his forehead, which was simply a yellow star with a ranger's eye in its centre.

The Lieutenant was about the same height as a ranger. He was a lot like a one, but much thinner, shorter, had an orange colour, and, like the other robot, didn't have an arm for a gun. Unlike the rangers, he had a mouth under his big eye. Like the rangers, he was hunched.

Dropships touched down behind them, with rangers filling out. Some residents were exiting their homes to investigate. The rangers were telling them what was up.

"Ahh, there you kids are!" the Commissioner pointed a metal finger as Ratchet, Qwark, and Nefarious came into view. "Nice job at baggin' Pincer," he said with, not happy or angry, "I swear that guy's escaped too many fricken' times."

Qwark, Nefarious, and Ratchet--in that order--stood in a line as they spoke to the Commissioner of the Galactic Rangers. Everyone was illuminated by the light of the streetlamp they were standing under.

"I'll say," Qwark heaved an annoyed breath. "Can't you just put him in an airtight cell and leave him there?" he requested.

"I'd love to, but there'll be too many questions," the Commissioner said with a wave of his hand. "Right, Lieutenant?"

"…huh? Oh!" the robot jumped, having not been paying attention to the conversation, "Yes, sir."

"Catching that big-headed freakazoid was a walk in the park," Nefarious commented. "Too bad; I'd rather be on Kronos with the others." He sighed with his claws behind his pointy head, "More interesting there, y'know."

"You should have," Ratchet said. "We could've handled it."

Nefarious cocked a thick eyebrow as he looked down at the lombax, "Oh, really? This coming from the guy who thanked me from saving his miserable life?"

"Cool it, you two!" David narrowed his uneven eyes. "No more tiffs."

"It's just brotherly bonding," Ratchet spoke up.

"Yeah; we do this all the time," Nefarious added with a nod.

"Besides the fact that they're not really brothers," Qwark pointed a green thumb at them.

"Excuse me!" a random ranger broke the conversation. "Transmission from Planet Kronos!" he had a vid-screen in his hands, which enlarged and floated in front of the group. The ranger left.

The screen flickered, and displayed the image of an egg-headed boy with blue goggles.

"Ahh, Kid Nova," Ratchet commented, "how's Kronos?"

_"Dark and wet, as usual," _the image said. _"I just got word that you guys managed to take Pincer down for the umpteenth time."_

"Yeah, no biggie," Nefarious casually 'examined his nails'.

_"Nonetheless, I'd like to congratulate you on a job well done," _the image said with a smile.

"How's the investigation going on there?" David asked.

_"Oh, Commissioner!" _Kid Nova said in surprise. _"I don't notice you! Ahem, we encountered some--"_

An explosion sounded from off-screen, followed by the right side of the hero's face being brightened.

The Kid looked, and his goggled eyes widened. _"Just a second!" _he said, equipping a Tesla Claw. _"HIIIII-YAAAAAH!" _he jumped off-screen.

Ratchet, Nefarious, Qwark, the Lieutenant, and the Commissioner waited in silence, listening to the sounds of battle.

The screen was taking up by a wide, reptilian face with widespread eyes.

Qwark cracked a smile, "Hey, W3RM. What's happening?"

_"H1, C4PT41N QW4RK, 4ND 3V3RYB0DY,"_ a voice that sound like a cross between a hiss, a cybernetic voice, and a raspy voice came from the hybrid hero's barely-moving mouth. _"D0N'T W0RRY 4B0UT 1T. W3 H4V3 3V3RYT1NG UND3R C0NTR0L"_

From behind him, Kid Nova was doing flips and letting out battle cries, while shooting blue, groaning creatures. Also, a man with a potbelly and green skin was laying waist to the monsters alongside him.

_"4NYW4Y,"_ W3RM continued_, "WH4T'S G01NG 0N 0V3R TH3R3, 0N M4RC4D1A?"_

"We just bagged Pincer again," Ratchet clarified.

_"O RLY?"_

"Yeah, he escaped again," Nefarious said with a huff as he folded his arms in front of his chest. It was at that exact moment that the thief in question was being taken away on a stretcher behind him.

_"T00 B4D Y0U H4D T0 B3 TH3R3, 4ND M1SS 4LL TH1S." _W3RM then shrugged, _"0H W3LL."_

"That fight behind you sounds like it's getting hairy," the Commissioner said. "What're you fighting, anyway?"

W3RM raised a boxing glove_, "0N3 M0M3NT, PLZ!"_ He equipped a Devastator, and fired a missile off-screen. There was an explosion, and W3RM jumped with joy_, "LOLOLOLOL! 1 4m t3h PWN!.!.!.!.!.1.1.1.1.1.oneoneone!"_

Everyone, except for a grinning Qwark, exchanged confused looks.

_"OK4Y, 1'M B4CK,"_ W3RM looked at the screen on his end.

"As I was saying," the Commissioner began, "what're you fighting, over there?"

W3RM's image narrowed its eyes_, "SP4C3 P1R4T3S."_

Qwark's antenna stood on end as he gasped, "'Space pirates'?"

The Commissioner's eyebrows rose, "But that means…"

_"Y3S……"_ W3RM said gravely, looking down.

"What?" Nefarious was ignorant. "What's it mean?"

"Now, just a minute," Qwark raised a latex-clad finger. "How can we be sure, exactly? I mean, I--" he put his hands on his chest in gesture "--am the one who beat him long ago!"

"Big deal," Ratchet told him. "Villains have a habit of coming back from the dead!"

"What makes you say that?.!"

A shrill whistle caused Qwark to turn his head.

Nefarious waved at him, his fingers moving up and down.

"……..Besides him!"

"If I may make a suggestion," the Lieutenant raised a metallic finger from besides the Commissioner, "they could be some surviving forces, who have just decided to attack a planet at random."

"Uhh, hello?" Nefarious moved his arms around for attention. "I'm in the woods here."

"But after so long?.?.?"

"Even so," Ratchet began seriously, "we can't be too careful." He looked up at the vid-screen. "W3RM, we're coming to Kronos to assist you."

_"1T'S 0K4Y," _he leaned back comfortably as the fight went on. He didn't notice Kid Nova kick a robotic pirate ghost that was about to slice his head off from behind away. _"W3 D0N'T N33D 4NY H3LP R1GHT N0W; 1'M SUR3 W3 C4N H4NDL3 1T."_

"Hello?.?" Nefarious called, and was unanswered.

"Okay," Ratchet nodded.

"I'm sending a squad in for backup," the Commissioner stated. "Just encase…."

"Oh, I give up….," Nefarious crossed his arms, like a spoilt child.

_"UHHHH, 0K4Y. W3'LL B3 W41T1NG. W3RM 0UT--" Stktktksktksksssss!._ After the signal stopped, the screen was filled with static. The screen shrunk, and flew away.

"You guys can go home, y'know," the Commissioner said to the group, with his hands on his hips. "Give your asses a rest."

"Right," Qwark nodded. "I'd better go and visit Skrunch at Holostar Studios," and with a hum, we was gone.

"So, did you find out what Pincer stole?" Ratchet inquired.

"Whaddaya think, lombax?" David tilted his square head. "A bunch o' bolts, and a breath mint."

Silence.

"……"

"……"

"……"

"……Sksktkttt!" Nefarious sniggered, receiving questioning looks from the other three. "BWAHAHAHAHAAAAA!.!.!.!.!.!" he hugged himself with one arm, and wiped an imaginary tear from his barely open red eye. "Heee-heee-hee!"

**"……," **David, Ratchet, and the Lieutenant were staring at him.

"Heee……………………………….! Ahem," Nefarious regained his composure as he placed his fist near his mouth. "I thought it was funny."

They didn't even smile.

Nefarious frowned, "Screw you guys; I'm going to the mansion." And with a huff, he was gone.

Ratchet simpered at the Commissioner, "I had better get going as well. See ya, guys."

"Goodnight, Ratchet," the Lieutenant waved.

"Later, kid," David muttered.

And, like Qwark and Nefarious, the lombax was gone.

"Quite an exciting night, right, sir?" the Lieutenant asked and some of the rangers in the area began to leave.

"If it means having to miss the next episode of _Queer Eye for the Tyhrranoid_, then yes."

"I didn't know you watched--"

"And you never will from now on, get it?"

"Yes, sir."

The Commissioner then noticed something. He cocked an eyebrow, and walked briskly.

The Lieutenant followed him, silently wondering what was up.

Commissioner David stopped, clenched both fists, and yelled at the top of his 'lungs', "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?.!.?.!.?.!"

"Uhhhh," a ranger was on his knees, in the middle of the road. In his only hand, he possessed a pair of tweezers that were doing their damn best to pick up Pincer's Liquid Nitrogen Gun. "Trying to collect evidence…"

"What for?.!" David barked.

"Um, to sh-show what w-weapons P-Pincer used….," the ranger stammered nervously.

"And why are you using tweezers?.!.?.!" David growled.

"F-Fingerprints, s-s-s-s-sir……," the one-eyed robot explained. "I don't want my fingerprints to get in the way of the tests………sir."

"……"

From behind his boss, the Lieutenant was making several gestures for the ranger to run away

The Commissioner's hands swooshed and grabbed the ranger by the neck. He shook him violently. "IDIOT! YOU'RE A ROBOT!.!.! YOU DON'T HAVE ANY FRIGGIN' FINGERPRINTS!.!.!.!.!" the ranger wasn't there anymore; he was replaced with a green blur. The Commissioner pushed the ranger to the ground.

The shaken robot's metal rear made a 'cong' sound as it hit the asphalt. After literally screwing his head back in place, he called to two of his buddies, "Hey, guys! You can use your hands! Guess we forgot we don't have fingerprints! Heh."

Two rangers picked up evidence with their regular hands.

David huffed, and walked away. He was followed by the ever-loyal Lieutenant.

"Hehe, isn't that humorous, sir?"

"A fricken' comedy," the boss mumbled. He sighed, "I'm surrounded by Kindergarten dropouts here."

* * *

That's it for the first chapter. Encase you were all wondering, Pincer has nothing to do with the main plot of this story. He's just a lombax thief with a buginoid for a head. This chapter was meant just as a little opening. The _real_ story won't be starting just yet, but I'll do my best to keep you entertained until then, m'kay? 

Another thing: Commissioner David and the Lieutenant made minor appearances at the end of _It runs in the family_. They'll have bigger roles in this story.

By the way, I'm aware that most of you dislike onomatopoeias for some unknown reason I'll disagree with no matter what. I love using them, but, for your reading benefit, and to prevent criticism that will be ignored, I'll limit the use of sound affects to a maximum of ten times per chapter. Sounds good, or should I lessen it?

R&R.


	2. Almost three years later

Chapter 1 was action-packed. Now, let's have a lil' moment of piece.

* * *

It was almost three years after the battle with Dr. Heinous, Dr. Nefarious' stepbrother who had tortured him for years. 

The stepsibling was bent on the elimination of all organic life. Together with his butler, step nephew, and pet sand shark, he constructed a machine that would transform organic life into robotic ones. The machine had the same function as Nefarious' Biobliterator, but was much bulkier, and only needed one powerful blast to take out an entire planet. Aridia was the only one to suffer, but thanks to experts and such, everyone and everything on that planet was brought back to normal.

* * *

After the battle, Dr. Nefarious had pledged never to be a villain again. He was brought in as an inventor, developing new models of weaponry for Gadgetron. 

He formed a sort of 'team' with Ratchet and the dispersed Q-Force, helping out whenever he could.

* * *

It may have been past midnight on that particular district on Planet Marcadia, but it was sunrise on the outskirts of Metropolis on Planet Kerwan. 

Nefarious' ship touched down in front of his property; to be more precise, it touched down on a landing pad. He owned a small section near his actual house.

"Lock," Nefarious said casually.

The ship beeped twice, signifying that it was locked. It then sank into the ground, being lowered by an elevator of some sort. The circular hole was covered by a metal 'lid' that slid from below ground.

The robotic scientist lived in a suburban area. The particular street was a mile long, and taken up by only five prestige households. Nefarious wasn't very aristocratic in character, but his earnings, and help in the battle with Dr. Heinous allowed him a beautiful mansion.

Nefarious headed for the front gate. He approached a touch screen on the wall near the entrance. All it took was his metal palm on the screen to have the gate slide into the ground. He stepped inside, and the gate slid up.

The front yard of the mansion was pretty plain, if one wanted to be honest. It was only the size of a basketball court. There was perfectly-cut grass on both sides. A fountain, consisting of shark statues, had a nice spot to the right, next to some trees. To the left, there was a wooden shed.

Large, red squirrels, which had been imported from, and perfected in, Bogon ran across the grounds.

One should not have been fooled by the plain appearance; the back yard was much more impressing.

Nefarious followed the meandering path to the mansion. He walked up the five white steps, moving his arms over a golden railing on the left.

"!.!.!" He heard something snap behind him. In a second, he folded and unfolded his arms with his dual ray guns, and spun around. "Ah-……..ha.."

A squirrel was chewing on a twig for no apparent reason.

"Whoops," Nefarious put his guns away, "false alarm."

He calmly turned around, and approached a pair of automatic double doors. A tiny hole opened in the centre of the left door. A wire slithered out like a snake, and attached itself to the glowing red orb in the middle of Nefarious' chest.

_"Welcome home, Doctor," _a feminine version of Nefarious' voice said.

The wire returned home, and the doors slip open opposite ways.

"Hehehe. I love that voice," Nefarious told himself.

He stepped inside.

"I'M HOME!"

* * *

Captain Qwark had also taken part in the battle for the organics, and didn't show much fear in fighting; he had no choice. 

Dr. Heinous had gone to Bogon to find some raritanium (Solana had run out) to power his weapon. Obviously, everyone got wind of it, and went after him. The evil scientist was using Thugs-4-Less as protection, making it all the more difficult for the 'good guys' to get to him.

Three ships were used to get raritanium; the first one was on Planet Tabora. Qwark had made a plan to infiltrate the base undetected, and shut the ship down. He assembled two groups for this task, and ended up with the group that got there first.

When he was teleported to an unknown room orbiting the planet, he had to fight against a newly-reborn and mind-controlled Courtney Gears……..along with a few Thugs-4-Less henchmen, who had been mind-controlled into fighting like graceful ballerinas.

Qwark ended up on Planet Veldin, alongside Ratchet, Clank, and others, in the final battle. A powerful blast from Dr. Heinous had caused him to lose his left foot. It wasn't that bad; it was replaced by a new, cybernetic one.

As a renewed hero, Qwark returned to protecting the innocent.

* * *

"Greetings, sir," Clank said to the director as he sat in front of him in one of Holostar Studios' many cafeterias. "How are things?" 

"Ahh aaaa," Skrunch waved, chewing on a banana.

"Dreadful, Clank!" the director exclaimed. "The critics are eating me alive! I swear…they complain too much about continuity errors!"

Clank raised a finger with a helpful suggestion--

"So what if a few things change between shots?" the director asked rhetorically. "It's out of my control, y'know. And no one really notices these things."

Clank made to speak again--

"The only people who do notice are those nerds who watch the thing a hundred times, and then play it frame-by-frame, and stare at the same frame for two hours, trying to spot any mistakes! They take notes, and observe the props to see if they change position between shots!"

"Sir--"

"What?" the director got out of his monologue.

"It is okay," Clank told him, receiving an agreeing nod from Skrunch. "We can shoot the flawed scenes again."

"I'm not worried about you, Clank!" the director pointed. "You're the last person I'd expect to show even an iota of intolerance! It's everyone else! Look!" he pointed.

Clank and Skrunch looked behind them.

One of Clank's co-stars had just punched a staff member in the nose for not giving her the right lipstick.

Clank turned his head to the director to speak, "Even if she is a………….--ahem--as you say, female dog, she is essential for this film."

"I know! I know!" the director cringed. "The second we're done with this movie, I'll kick her right in her cosmetically-rebuilt--!"

And that was when his cell phone decided to ring.

"Hello?" the director tiresomely placed the receiver to his ear, already getting up with the thought that it'd be a private conversation. "……Oh, really? I'll tell 'im." He cut off. "Skrunch, you have a visitor."

"Waa waaa?" the monkey placed a questioning hand on his hairy chest.

"He's on the way right now," the director stated.

"Hey, Skrunch!" Qwark waved as he approached the table. "Hi, Clank…Leo."

"Hello, Qwark."

"Hey, Qwark."

"Ahh-haaa oooohh akk?" Skrunch inquired.

"The same as usual," Qwark replied. "After I was……temporarily indisposed, Ratchet and Nefarious defeated the ugly Pincer, and he was hauled off to jail."

"Congratulations, Qwark," Clank said.

"Eh, it was nothing," Qwark waved him off. "I mean, seriously, even seven-year-olds are no longer afraid of him." He stopped to think, "….I think I saw a kid dressed as him for Halloween once."

"Ooh hooo ooh?"

"I think it was last year's. Anyway, I just came for a visit, and to see how you were," Qwark smiled. "Nice to see you're fine and dandy. So, how's--?"

"WAIT JUST A DARN MINUTE!.!.!.!" the director pointed a yellow finger as he leaned over the table with a stroke of pure genius.

Qwark froze, standing on one leg with his arms spread out and slouching ever so slightly, "Yes…?" it was as if he'd be shot dead by a thousand firearms if he so much as moved a muscle.

"I just had a great idea," the director walked around the table. "Captain Qwark, how would you like to star in the movie that I'm currently making?"

Qwark's body relaxed as the superhero stopped to think, "Well, I--"

"Think about it, Qwark," the director made circles around the latex-clad one. "You'll get to star alongside Secret Agent Clank! You'll gain more publicity than ever before! You could win an Oscar!"

Qwark opened his mouth to speak--

"No, wait," the director interrupted. "Not good enough, eh? How about I give you a nice trailer, a-and a beautiful bimbo makeup artist."

"Uhh--"

"Okay," he was sweating now, "I'll also give you more airtime than I was planning, but, obviously, Clank will be the main star!"

"……," Qwark had the feeling that if he tried to speak, the director would cut him off again.

"Waddaya say?" the director stopped pacing, and looked Qwark straight in his green eyes.

"Go ahead, Qwark," Clank urged politely. "Starring in a film is a great acting experience."

"Akk akk!" Skrunch agreed.

The proposition was so random, Qwark didn't know what to say, other than, "I'll think about it."

The director grinned, "Yes, you will, Qwark." He turned to leave. "See ya, later."

He left, leaving Clank, Qwark, and Skrunch to have a chat.

* * *

Not much could have been said for Ratchet. He hadn't changed much after the battle. He was still slightly laid back, and just about as adventurous as he was when he first met Clank. 

He still lived at the Starship Phoenix. He was still referred to as 'Sarge' by the rangers. He was still good friends with Al and Skidd (and had a small acquaintanceship with Helga), who were spending less time on the Phoenix as time passed. Sasha was still his Captain, and they had still been split up due to racial reasons.

* * *

"Yo, Ratchet!" Skidd greeted as the lombax hopped out of his ship. "Heard the stakeout went brill', dude. Nice work." 

"Thanks, Skidd," Ratchet replied.

"Say, bro," the hoverboarder went on. "Wanna go through a few rounds of Mallet: Deadlocked?"

Ratchet smiled, "Sure."

"Race ya there!" the Rilgarian spun on his booted heel. "Hahahahahaa!" he laughed as he pushed a ranger aside ("Hey! Watch where you're going, McMarxx!").

Ratchet glided right past him with his Charge Boots.

"Dude! No fair!" Skid yelled after him with a frown. "That's--like--totally cheating!"

"Sore loser!" he heard Ratchet call him.

"I'm so gonna own you when we play!"

Ratchet's quarters had gone through a few slight changes; instead of Qwark's old cage, there was a wall, with a sliding door that led to Ratchet's room. Other than that, there were no other changes.

However…

"What the…?" Ratchet came to a stop.

Al was working on a long and thick table, which had taken up almost half of the lounge. On either sides, there were scattered pieces of machinery. In the centre, the Metropolan was currently welding something Ratchet couldn't see. A box of tools lay besides Al. Sparks flew as the nerd toiled away, not noticing he was being watched.

"Al?" Ratchet called, but stayed where he was. Experience as a mechanic, and common sense told him not to get any closer whenever there was welding in progress. He couldn't be heard over the sparks.

Unfortunately, Skidd had no idea what was going on.

"Dogpile!" Skidd bellowed as he jumped on Ratchet from behind.

**WHUMP!**

"DAAAIII!.!.!"

They rolled on the floor, and stopped with Ratchet groaning on his belly with Skidd on his back.

"Hey, Al," he greeted, not seeming to notice the table with all the junk and tools, "Wazzup?"

The genius removed his welder's mask, and blew out the flame, and removed the rest of his gear. He stood up from an unseen chair, and explained, "If you must know, my current project is a highly sophisticated teleportation device."

"Really now?" Ratchet remarked, half interested. He had managed to release his upper body; he rested his chin on one hand while the other's fingers tapped the floor in sequence. "You getting this, Skidd?"

The green man was still sitting on Ratchet. He had a vacant expression on his face. When he snapped out of it, he said, "Uhh, Al. Wazzup?"

Al sighed, shaking his head.

"Don't we……..already have…….teleportation?" Ratchet squeezed himself free from under Skidd's butt. He stood up, and arched his back.

"That's true, Ratchet," Al nodded his yellow head, "but you're referring to those teleport pads you see lying around everywhere, aren't you?"

"No," Ratchet shook his furry head. "I mean…look at Lawrence; he has one implanted in his arm."

"Yeah, yeah," Al waved him off. "The device I'm designing will be able to teleport people and things over _vast_ amounts of light-years," he moved his hand as if he was admiring a sunset.

"Dude!" Skidd jumped with an amazed glee. "You're making a time machine?.!"

"UGH!" Al fell backwards.

"Skidd, 'light-years' means distance," Ratchet explained to the one who didn't get it.

Skidd frowned, "That's bogus, dude. Then, they should call 'em light miles! DUH!" he said it as if it were the most obvious thing ever.

Al placed one hand on the table, then another. He stood up. "The term 'light-years' is the distance light travels in a vacuum in one consecutive year," he said casually. He bent over to pick up his glasses and dust them, "Since there are so many different planets with different year spans, I'm employing the traditional Marcadia span."

"We get it, Al," Ratchet shortened the distance between himself and the table. "Nice gadgets you got here," he complemented.

"Thanks," Al put his green glasses back on.

"So, why are you making a teleportation device?"

Al grinned smugly, "For the fun of it."

Ratchet leaned his head to the side, "I don't get it."

"I just needed something to do in my ever-growing spare time," Al stated.

"What, Sasha or anyone hasn't given you anything to do here?"

Al looked at the floor sadly, "Afraid not."

"If you want something to do, go to Metropolis and reopen the robo-shack."

"Edwina runs the robo-shack now."

"…..why?"

"I let her, due to the fact that the weather conditions on Planet Hoven have grown out of control."

Ratchet opened his mouth to reply--

"Hey, dudes!" Skidd captured their attention.

Al grumbled, "What is it now?"

"What's this do?" Skidd leaned over to press a button on one of Al's many gadgets. It was basically a metallic cube with a blue button.

"Press it and you'll find out," Al said nonchalantly.

Skidd rubbed his hands together eagerly, and pounded the switch with his fist.

The box unfolded into some sort of mechanical Venus flytrap about ten feet in height. Its 'mouth' opened, and engulfed Skidd's upper body.

Ratchet jumped, but noticed Al's calm expression. The lombax watched as Skidd's legs hung uselessly.

_"Dudes!" _his muffled voice exclaimed. _"This is so COOL!.!.!.!.!.!.!"_

"Should we do something?" Ratchet asked Al.

The techno-genius shook his head, "Just leave him there. Eventually, it'll realise that Skidd isn't scrap metal, and will spit him out."

"How long will that take?"

Al shrugged, "Beats me." He resumed tinkering with the teleportation device.

"……," Ratchet went to play a videogame.

* * *

"Oof!" Pincer's lombax belly skidded on his cell's floor as he was thrown in. He quickly pushed himself up with his green hands in order to prevent his hairy neck from snapping backwards. 

He was now wearing an orange T-shirt with matching pants and shoes.

Instantly, the translucent blue force field activated, and the ugly freak was incarcerated once more.

As Pincer stood up, his big eyes saddened. With an open claw, he marked a spot on the wall, where there were quite a few tally marks.

"_Hey! That you, Pincer?" _a childish voice asked from a neighbouring cell.

"Yeah, it's me…," the hybrid answered.

_"HA! I win! I get the top bunk for the rest of the week!"_

_"Whatever,"_ a deep, yet educated voice droned from the same cell. _"I couldn't care less."_

"Will you two SHUT UP?.!.?.!.?.!" Pincer exclaimed. "I've had a rough night, and am gonna get some shuteye!"

_"Sure, sure, dude."_

_"Absolutely. I'm terribly sorry for the both of us."_

_"No need to be so formal, y'know."_

Pincer sighed, and headed for his bed. It was a bunk bed that had the bottom bed missing. The top bunk had a hole big enough to fit a lombax through. The freak climbed up, and squeezed his lombax body, through the gap.

His buginoid body lay on its belly, and his lombax body hung asleep under it.

His compound eyes closed.

* * *

"Darla Gratch just reported the incident with Pincer on Marcadia," Lawrence stated as he pored Nefarious some motor oil. 

"Wow, she's a quick one," Nefarious replied. He grabbed the mug of oil, and dumped it all over himself. "Aaaaah," he melted in his seat as his joints were lubricated.

They were in one of the mansions three kitchens, on the ground floor. Nefarious sat at a small, squared table, with Lawrence standing politely by his side with a jug of oil in his silver hand.

"So, where's Courtney?" the slippery Nefarious inquired.

"She's in the combat simulator," Lawrence walked towards the sink to dump the jug.

Nefarious cocked an eyebrow, "Wasn't she supposed to be practicing her new song on that cool room I bought her?"

"I believe so," Lawrence washed his hands ever so casually.

Nefarious abruptly stood up, "Nnngh! I swear...she spends more time practicing to kick ass than her actual career!"

"Mmhmm…"

"Hasn't she learned that the sooner ya do it, the never you'll have to do it again?.!"

"Mmhmm…."

"…….Are you even listening to me?" Nefarious put his fists on his hips, and tapped his foot impatiently.

"Just a second, sir," Lawrence faced his master. "I suggest you get down."

Nefarious looked at him sceptically, "What the fudge for?"

The butler reached behind him, and pulled out a Flux Rifle.

Nefarious gasped, and hit the deck.

Lawrence aimed, and fired a shot over the table, over his master, through the open window, and right between the eyes of a robot that was spying on them outside.

The robot dropped its camera, and fell on its back.

"What's up?" Nefarious asked, still on the floor.

"Just a paparazzibot, sir," Lawrence lowered the rifle. "Nothing to worry about; the squirrels will take care of its remains."

"Uh….huh," Nefarious stood up, and dusted himself off. He inspected the fallen robot outside. "Good shooting," he gave Lawrence a thumb's up.

"Would you like to see Miss Gears in the combat simulator?"

"Eh, why not?" Nefarious made to walk. "WHOA!" he slipped over some oil, and fell on his butt. "Unnngh….," he groaned.

"Whoops," Lawrence placed his hands on his mouth. "Be careful next time, sir."

"Shut up and gimme a hand."

"Right away, sir."

* * *

Good Lord, sorry this chapter took so long. I should let you all know that there will be some chapters I will not like having to do, but are necessities for this story. I didn't like this one much. 

This chapter was all peace and crap, but the next will be something I'm looking forward to. It'll be quite long, and may take some time, though. It's gonna be sweet.

Aside from that, the amount of times I had to re-edit something from this chapter is countless, man.

R&R.


	3. Plasma

Dayum, that Chapter 2 was a drag. Now, it's time for some funnnnn. Hehehe.

* * *

"This is Darla Gratch reporting live from Planet Kronos," she stood in front of the camera with her microphone in hand, "where a new battle is underway. For those of you who weren't here ten minutes ago, several robotic pirate ghosts have started attacking this dark planet in an unprovoked attack. It appears that the planet's Dark Cathedral is the main focus of this scuffle." 

She gestured behind her; to the fight going on at the Cathedral's doors.

"As you can see, three of the Galaxies greatest heroes, Kid Nova, W3RM, and The Muscle, are here to make sure these ghostly threats are gone."

Kid Nova had just tripped a pirate with a sweeping kick.

W3RM was using a laser sword to gut the fiends in half.

The Muscle was slamming heads together.

Darla went on, as if nothing was happening, "Officials believe that these are the surviving pirates of the notorious Captain Blackstar, a dreaded pirate who terrorized Solana during its fifth equinox. He was defeated by Captain Qwark, and never seen again. And here to join me, the Galactic Commissioner."

David and the Lieutenant stepped into the camera's view.

"Commissioner David," Darla held the microphone to his squared head, "what do you make of this?"

"Well, Darla," the Commissioner removed his cigar, and threw it over his shoulder, "it could be just remaining forces who are unaware that their leader is gone forever. It's similar to the tyhrranoid problem we had after the defeat of Dr. Nefarious. So, yeah, it could be such a situation."

There was a huge explosion behind them that went ignored.

Darla spoke, "Do you think that Captain Blackstar is, in any way possible, involved in all this?"

"Well, Darla, it might be possible, though Captain Qwark had defeated him." He shrugged, "I suppose villains have a bad habit of coming back. It's because of this possibility that the President of Kronos had asked me to appear in a press conference, along with Ratchet and so on…"

"I see," Darla nodded. "Thank you for your time, Commissioner. Do you have anything to add, Lieutenant?" she walked past David, and held the microphone to the said robot.

"Me? Uh, no. I think Commissioner just covered everything."

"Yes, I have. Well, better help 'em out," the Commissioner pulled out an N60 Storm, and went to join the fight. "Let's get 'em, Lieutenant!"

"R-Right away, sir," the Lieutenant nervously equipped a tesla claw, and went to help his boss.

Darla spoke to the people at home, unaware that a pirate had just noticed her presence. It pulled out a dagger, and slowly approached her back.

"So, there you have it. With all these pirates running amuck, citizens who were there several years ago can only hope that Captain Blackstar _is not_ back, and that these are just surviving forces."

The pirate was within two feet of her.

"Darla Gratch. Channel 64 News."

And the pirate stabbed at her back a nanosecond before the cameraman cut.

* * *

"Qwark here," the latex-clad superhero ran down a hall at Holostar Studios with a vid-screen floating ahead of him so he could see who he was talking to. 

Al's image was visible onscreen. _"Captain Qwark, I just got word that someone's broken into a lab on Planet Marcadia and is demanding some sort of chip!"_

"Marcadia again?" Qwark whined. "I was JUST there!"

Al glared_, "Yes, Marcadia."_

"What's so important about--S'cuse me, Miss," he almost knocked over a random staff worker.

_"I don't know, but it HAS to be important for someone to go through so much trouble to steal it."_

"Where, exactly, do I have to go?"

_"Sasha says we need to get to a place called 'Gibson Labs', located in the Southern part of the Capital City," _explained Al as Qwark neared his shuttle. _"It's owned by some guy named Eric P. Gibson, a scientist who founded the company years ago. They develop various kinds of technology for Gadgetron. I've already uploaded the coordinates to your ship."_

Qwark arrived at his shuttle. The back ramp opened on command from a remote the superhero had extracted from his belt.

"Anything else I should know?" he pressed random buttons as the ramp rose.

_"Ratchet and Nefarious have already been informed of the current events, and will be joining you."_

"Right," Qwark pressed one last button. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

_"Roger. Al out."_ The screen shrunk and entered the superhero's utility belt.

His vessel began to leave the planet.

"I'll make sure that this 'chip' doesn't fall into the wrong hands."

* * *

Gibson Labs was an extremely tall skyscraper coated with a shiny blue alloy. The tenth to last floor upwards were circular, while the rest of the building was squared. Due to its height, a bridge had to be connected to the middle floor. It was surrounded by infinite apartment complexes that would have made Metropolis' tallest building jealous. The words 'GIBSON LABS' rotated around the seventh to last floor in big, golden letters. 

Qwark's shuttle landed on the bridge. Before his vessel had touched down, he saw Ratchet's ship, Nefarious' ship, and a few ranger dropships; all on the bridge. There was a group of rangers trying to keep curious onlookers away at the section that connected to the city.

"About time you got here, Qwark!" Nefarious barked the second Qwark stepped out of his shuttle and onto the bridge. "I've been waiting for hours!"

"We've only been here for ten minutes," Ratchet muttered.

"Just tell me the situation, so we can get in there and get out as soon as possible," Qwark said.

"Well, we don't quite know what the thief looks like," explained Ratchet. "All the security cameras were short-circuited before the intrusion."

"Great," Qwark rolled his eyes, "a _smart_ criminal."

"No one's been reported killed so far," the lombax went on, "so we can guess that the thief doesn't use much lethal force."

"In other words, we're up against a pansy," Nefarious said bluntly.

* * *

Atop one of the buildings… 

Facing Gibson Labs…

With the bridge perfectly in view…

A tall and muscular figure stood.

Covered in armour.

Arms crossed.

Silent.

Eyes narrow under a mask.

Watching Ratchet, Captain Qwark, and Dr. Nefarious.

"……," it snorted.

* * *

"We're ready to move, Sarge," a ranger gave a salute to Ratchet. "If you don't mind, myself and five other rangers will be coming to assist." 

"No problem," Ratchet replied. "So, what floor do we have to get to?"

"The one above the one we're on, sir. It's where the wanted computer chip is located."

"Hmm," Qwark rubbed his massive chin, "that's convenient."

"Isn't it, though?" Nefarious grinned.

"Alright, grab your partners, and let's move!" Ratchet ordered.

"Sir, yes, sir!"

They began their short walk towards the middle floor.

* * *

After ascending the stairs by one story, the group walked down a seemingly endless hall. Everything was a pain white colour, with a few doors on the left or right side of the wall. 

The main three took the lead, flanked by the rangers.

"Stay frosty, people," a ranger said nervously. "The intruder could be hiding anywhere."

They walked.

They walked.

They walked.

They walked.

And walked.

And walked.

And walked.

And walked.

"The Hell's taking so long?" Nefarious muttered.

The walked, turned a corner, and walked some more.

Upon turning another corner, they noticed a scientist--with his lab coat--leaning against the wall and nervously lighting himself a cigarette. His features depicted him as a local from Planet Novalis; grey skin, pointy head, and spikes.

When he noticed the approaching group, he frowned, and shouted, "About time you kids got here!"

Nefarious glared from behind Ratchet as the group stopped, "I'm almost into my fifties, you filthy smo--!"

"Relax, Nefarious," Ratchet waved him off, and lowered his wrench. "Nice to see you again, Ed. How're Will and Jane doing?"

Ed exhaled smoke fumes through his nose, "They're fine; sent to pick up something on Planet Hoven."

"Good, good," Ratchet nodded at the small talk. "What're you doing here, anyway?"

"Waiting for you guys, so I can get the heck outta here!" Ed responded. "Y'see that vault door there?" he pointed down the hall.

Anyone with eyes could see it.

"The intruder's in there," Ed went on. "When he wasn't looking, I closed the vault door right behind 'im." He smirked as he took another puff from the death stick. "All yours."

"Did you get to see him?" Qwark asked.

"No, and I doubt I'd live to tell the tale if I did."

"Strange," Ratchet looked at the door suspiciously, "….did he seem terrified after you closed it?"

"Nope," Ed shook his grey head. "He didn't make a sound."

"…..," Ratchet was in deep thought.

"Well, I'm leaving," Ed walked past Ratchet. "Good luck, and make sure that chip doesn't get away; it's very important."

"I'm gonna check on the vault," Nefarious broke into a jog.

"Wait up," Ratchet went after him, with the others in tow.

"Hmmm," Nefarious had his head placed against the vault's thick metal. He listened carefully to what was happening inside.

Qwark spoke, "What do--?"

"Shhhhh!" Nefarious held up a finger to silence him.

Everyone listened.

Ratchet moved his ear to the vault, below Nefarious.

From the other side…

_Beep…Beep…Beep…Beep…Beeeeeeeeeee--_

Ratchet's and Nefarious' eyes widened.

"RUN!"

"MOVE!"

They shoved the rangers and Qwark back just in time to avoid the vault door exploding from the inside. The blast and most of the door sent some of the unsuspecting ranger flying.

"Erk!" Qwark's back landed on the floor. He did a skid, and stopped at Ratchet's feet.

The lombax had already run to safety and had Nefarious standing by his side.

"Is everyone okay?' a random ranger asked.

Only his comrades answered him.

"I'm fine."

"I'm okay."

"Swell."

"A-okay!"

"Juuuuuuust peachy," the last answered in a sarcastic tone. If he had a face, he would have been glaring.

"Everyone stay alert!" Ratchet commanded, pulling out his primary weapon.

All eyes--masked, electronic, and all--fell on the opening where the vault door used to be. Some rangers actually used the debris as cover, while another held the datapad, that used to be on the wall, as a bludgeon.

Four tiny robots emerged from the slowly-clearing smoke. They walked on tiny, bird-like feet, and sniffed the ground.

One ranger screamed, grabbing everyone's--including the little robots'--attention. "GLOVE OF DOOM AGENTS!.!.!.!"

Ratchet and Qwark gasped as the little robots grinned enthusiastically and ran towards the rangers with the urge to detonate.

"Damn! People still buy these?.!" Nefarious hollered.

One ranger turned to run, but was too slow. He blew up the second an agent came in contact with his foot. His body parts went in all directions.

"Holy smokes!" the ranger closest to Ratchet pointed. "It got G-88!"

Nefarious aimed, and managed to destroy an agent with a well-aimed shot from his ray gun.

However, he wasn't ready for the third agent, which claimed its victim.

"AAAAGH! They also got H-12!.!.!"

"That's it!" Ratchet growled, and tossed a sphere from a newly-equipped glove.

The ball hit the ground in front of the furthest ranger, and began to beep. When the last agent got close enough, Ratchet pressed a button on his glove, blowing up the bomb and the agent.

"Nice one," Qwark complemented.

"Thanks," Ratchet held up the glowing glove. "The trigger bomb glove. Available at all Gadgetron vendors."

"Look," Nefarious stepped between them and pointed.

All eyes fell on the vault doorway. A figure was standing in the wreckage. The identity was concealed, because he was attired in Infernox armour from head to toe. A section of armour was created for his long ears, and short tail.

Ratchet's brow frowned.

"Hey, guys…," Qwark said, "…it's a 'she'!"

"How can you tell?" Nefarious asked him.

"Because she has a 'womanly' figure," Qwark answered matter-of-factly. "That's why!"

Indeed, his…..her armour had a curvaceous shape along the sides, and a chest plate that was designed to benefit her breasts.

"Oh, great," Nefarious groaned, palming his face. "Guess we have to 'go easy on her' or sum--OOFFFFF!.!.!.!.!" a missile flew, and exploded right in his face. He flew past Qwark and over Ratchet, crashing in the hall. "Ughhhhh…..," his smoking self groaned.

The woman was busy storing the stolen chip in a storage watch. A devastator was leaning against her thigh.

"Hey!" Qwark barked. "That's Gibson Labs property, missy! And I don't care if you're a babe underneath that shiny exterior…. YOU BROKE THE LAW, AND HAVE TO PAY THE CONS--**YIIIIPE!.!.!.!.!"** he ducked in time to miss another missile, which blew up the ceiling above the stationary Ratchet's head.

The lombax was knocked out of his thoughts, so he could bat away the debris with his wrench. "Stop her!" he pointed. "But don't kill her!"

The remaining four rangers set their guns to stun. They fired.

The intruder sprung into action. She jumped the shots, and began to run towards the group. Every shot missed as she jumped, and kicked off the walls.

"NnnGH!" Qwark fumbled in his belt for a weapon. He pulled out a taser. "Eh, close enough." He began to fire at the nearing intruder.

Ratchet silently pulled out his wrench, and waited.

"Shoot her, man!"

"I'm trying!"

"She's too fast for me!"

The thief landed in an agile roll, equipped a meteor gun, and sent several red hot projectiles at a ranger.

"AAAAAGH! NRRR-AAAAAAAGH!.!.!.!" he screamed as his feet melted.

The thief grabbed hold of his head, and pulled it right off.

"Son of a--!" the head was cut off after being squeezed to pieces.

A ranger screamed, "SHE KILLED L-49!.!.!.!"

The thief picked up the melting body, and threw it at the group. The rangers divided, providing an escape in the middle.

The thief equipped a blitz gun, and blasted through.

"What the…? That's a MegaCorp weapon!" Qwark pointed with his taser. "She could be from another galaxy!"

"GUYS! SHE JUST DESTROYED H-55 and J-72!.!.!.!"

She was about to destroy the other ranger, when suddenly--

_**CRASH!.!.!.!**_

A blue figure burst through the ceiling, landed in a crouch in between the ranger and intruder, and sprang up with an uppercut.

The Infernox-clad interloper was caught off guard. She was struck in the chin, and stumbled back a few feet. She wasn't hurt that bad, though, because she didn't seem to let out a cry of pain and wasn't rubbing her chin.

"You won't do anymore damage," the one who had just saved the ranger's life said in an eerie and deep voice. "Surrender if you know what's good for you."

"I'm sorry," Qwark began, "but who are you?'

The tall and muscular man was covered entirely in navy blue armour, save his face, which was covered with an azure mask. His armour had bright, blue, electrical glows along the forearms, kneepads, shoulders, chest plate, and helmet. It also had yellow highlights on the wrists, ankles, neck, and waist. His mask covered all of his face, and had holes for the nostrils and possessed one-way, see-through, grey patches for the eyes.

"Name's Plasma Man," he answered Qwark without looking.

"'Plasma Man'?" Nefarious remarked, rubbing his pointy head. "Name sounds familiar. By any chance, where you the one who saved that group of kids from a bunch of leviathans?"

"Let's talk later, please. After we're done with her, I'll explain everything."

The Infernox-clad woman made to punch him.

"Hhh!" 'Plasma Man' held his arms up in defence, backing away as he was struck in the hands.

She kicked at his chest.

He took the strike, but managed to catch her foot. He ducked a punch.

She equipped a spitting hydra, and charged the weapon.

"DAAH!" Plasma Man fell backwards as he was zapped in the head. He was about to get up when he was sprayed with some sort of sticky goo that solodified. "Nnngh!" he struggled. "I'm stuck!"

The intruder jumped over him, and shoved the nervous ranger into the wall.

"Not so fast!" Qwark stepped in her way, ready to zap her.

She kicked him in his chest, and bounced off in a back flip.

"URP!" Qwark fell over, clutching his belly.

"Idiot," Nefarious muttered. He stood up, ran past Ratchet, and prepared to attack the thief who just jumped over Qwark's grounded form. "This is how you get it done!"

He swung a fist at her head.

She ducked, and made to strip him with a sweeping foot.

Nefarious jumped up high, pushed off the ceiling, and aimed his feet to squash her.

She rolled under him, equipped a walloper, spun, and punched at him.

"HAAA!" Nefarious was quick enough to spin around and catch the boxing glove with both hands. "Now, Ratchet!"

The lombax ran towards them, ready to smack her upside the head with the flat side of his wrench.

She looked behind her for too long. Nefarious released his grip from her walloper, and landed a foot right in her side.

She stumbled in Ratchet's direction.

Ratchet swung his wrench. She managed to catch it, and use her momentum to push past the lombax. With no one else in her way, she ran down the hall.

"She's getting away!" Nefarious sprinted.

Ratchet growled, and followed him.

"Ohhhh," Qwark weakly stood up, and rubbed. "Man, she's one Hell of a hard hitter" he ran after the group.

The last ranger shook his head, and placed a hand on his metal cranium. He was about to follow everyone, but a deep voice halted him.

"Excuse me."

"Huh?.?' the ranger looked.

Plasma Man was still struggling in the goo. "Some help would be appreciated."

"………..sure."

* * *

"Stop right there!" Nefarious several deadly balls of plasma in the thief's direction. 

She jumped, missed one, kicked off the wall, missed another, kicked of the other wall, and missed a third one. She tossed a grenade behind her.

Nefarious expertly caught it, and threw it back.

The interloper turned a corner, and the grenade left a hole in the wall.

"Damn!" Nefarious cursed. "She's practically invincible."

"My turn. Nefarious, out of the way!" Ratchet had some sort of crossbow/gun thing. It fired a set of bolas. They spun, and successfully wrapped themselves around the thief's ankles.

"Oof!" she finally uttered something as she fell on her front.

"We have got you now!" Nefarious bellowed.

"I don't think so," her voice sounded young, and strong. She turned over, and equipped a shock cannon. A wave of blue blasted from the weapon.

Ratchet had to duck Nefarious' flying form.

"You're not gonna get away, Tahiri," he said as he approached the thief. His eyes narrowed. Somehow, he knew her name.

"We'll see about that," she--apparently named 'Tahiri'--had already cut through the cord binding her ankles with a knife.

Ratchet jumped, ready to perform a hyper-strike.

The woman bent her knees up to her head, and somersaulted backwards, dodging Ratchet's attack. She sprang up, and ran.

Ratchet equipped his annihilator, and fired a missile.

Direct hit; Tahiri was struck square in her armoured back. As Ratchet neared her, he could see a broken piece of the armour fall off. However, the Infernox layer that was supposed to make everything soft and comfortable on the inside was still there; a section of her back was now vulnerable.

She slowly got up.

"You've got some nerve," she uttered before tossing a sphere over her shoulder and carrying on.

The ball turned into a miniature turret.

Ratchet's eyes bugged.

"Get outta my way!" Nefarious suddenly shoved past him.

The miniturret began to fire tiny shots at the charging robot. Nefarious held his arms up in an 'X' shape, causing the pathetic shots to bounce off his forearms. One simple hologram destroyed the turret.

"Nice going, but she's still getting away," Ratchet told him as he broke into a run.

"I noticed," Nefarious answered sarcastically. "Qwark isn't far behind, but I don't know about that 'Plasma Guy', or whoever."

"If he wants to help, then let him help."

"Look! There she is!" Nefarious pointed as they turned a corner.

The armoured woman saluted them, opened a window, and jumped.

Ratchet gasped. Nefarious 'gulped'.

* * *

"LOOK OUT!" a ranger pointed up. 

"Huh--AA--!.!.!" an unwary ranger was crushed as Tahiri landed on him. He was flattened into a robotic pancake.

The other ranger gasped as Tahiri equipped a swingshot, and launched the cord just above the window she jumped through. The hook imbedded itself in the building's side, and pulled the thief up.

"Where'd she go?.!" Nefarious stuck his head out the window. He was kicked back in as Tahiri swung over.

Ratchet looked out and up. Tahiri was running up the building with a pair of gravity boots. The lombax equipped his own pair, and went after her.

"What happened?" Qwark had managed to catch up, and noticed Nefarious rubbing his wounded face.

"That bitch just kicked me in the face!" the scientist screeched. "Can you believe that?.!"

"Yes," Qwark answered immediately. "Where'd she go?"

"I think she's running up the building," Nefarious poked his head out the window, and looked up. "Yup, they're doin' just that." He jumped out the window, and flew after them.

Qwark pulled out a swingshot on one hand, and a hypershot in the other. He was about to jumped out, when a deep voice stopped him.

"Just a second, Captain Qwark," Plasma Man had caught up. The ranger that helped him out of the sticky goo stood by his side. "Where did everyone go?"

"They're sorta climbing the building," Qwark answered. "If we hurry, we may be able to catch up." He leaned out the window, and pointed both gadgets up. He was pulled up by the swingshot cord.

Plasma Man looked up, and watched Qwark alternate between grappling gadgets. He turned around, and sprinted past the inquisitive ranger.

* * *

Ratchet panted as he ran up the building of Gibson Labs. Tahiri was ahead of him and above him as they neared the roof. 

The armoured woman tossed several bombs over her head.

These were relatively simple to dodge. "Look out below!" Ratchet called behind him.

Nefarious saw the bombs heading his way. He grunted, and composed a shield around himself. The explosives exploded on contact with the barrier, leaving the robot unharmed.

Qwark flattened himself against the building, allowing the bombs that Nefarious didn't destroy to pass over him.

"Stop, Tahiri!" Ratchet yelled as he gained altitude. "You're not gonna get away from us today!"

"Listen to yourself; you're already worn out after beating Pincer!" she answered him as they neared the rotating letters. "If you want to live, get away from me, and let me do my business!.!.!"

"Nnnnngh!" Ratchet growled.

"I'll get her!" Nefarious ascended past him.

"Good luck," Ratchet muttered.

Nefarious ascended to Tahiri's level. He flew 'above' her armoured head as he watched her run higher without a hint of tire.

* * *

Meanwhile… 

"Whoa…," a ranger looked down at his crushed comrade. "Was that the intruder?"

"Yes, it was!" the only surviving ranger ran from inside the building. "And take my word for it; she's one Hell of a tough cookie!"

"'She'?"

"Yes, _she_. She took out everyone except for me."

"And that makes you a soul survivor or something?" the other ranger replied sarcastically.

"Maybe…."

"Right. I'm gonna send backup."

"I wouldn't!" the other ranger said hysterically. "She'll wipe us all out!"

"Oooookay….," if the other ranger had a ace, he would have been looking at his comrade strangely.

"How about we go for some robotic ice-cream?"

The other ranger's voice lit up with glee, "I'm there!"

* * *

"Alright, girly!" Nefarious took on a sexist tone as he watched the thief run up the building. "I _let_ ya get passed us back there, but now, I'm gonna give it my all!" 

"Do you always talk as much as your head is big?" Tahiri taunted, running.

"Wh-What?.!" Nefarious' surprised face frowned. "Okay, I'm gonna give you 'till the count of three to give up before I blast you to smithereens!"

He spoke at a volume only he and she could hear.

"One………two………thr--OWIE!.!.!.!.!"

He hadn't been looking where he was going. The robot had bonked his head on the bottom of the 'L' of the rotating 'GIBSON LABS'. Tahiri, however, had managed to move 'under' them.

Nefarious waited for the 'A', 'B', and 'S' to pass before flying after the woman.

They were nearing the roof.

"Okay, you asked for it," Nefarious was almost completely infuriated. His hand produced a blue ball of plasma, which he threw at Tahiri. "Dodge that, sucka!"

"Hmm?" Tahiri's helmet turned half-heartedly. When she saw the incoming bomb, she jumped the attack.

Nefarious grumbled to himself, "Damn…"

"Relax, Nefarious!" Ratchet told him from below. "I dodged that crappy attack hundreds of times."

"That makes it soooooo much better," Nefarious' ego took another hit.

The roof was only two stories away. Tahiri had bent over, grabbed the three-foot wall, and flipped over it. She landed on the roof.

Nefarious grabbed Ratchet's arm, and landed them both on the roof.

The roof of Gibson Labs was basically a typical roof. One surprising thing about it was that it didn't have a spire in its centre. All it had was a cube with a door that led to the stairs on the lower floor.

"Alright, you!" Nefarious pointed a threatening finger at Tahiri as she stepped in the centre of the roof. "I'm giving you one last chance to surrender, or at least, give us that computer chip thingy!.!.! Now, are ya gonna cooperate, or do I have to kick your runaway ass to the next millennium?.!.?.!.?.!"

Tahiri merely struck a martial arts pose, and gestured the 'come on' sign.

Nefarious' eyes narrowed. "You asked for it…," he said sinisterly. "Take five, Ratchet."

The lombax stood down.

He started off with a hologram. The copy whooshed, and missed the side-flipping thief.

Nefarious growled, and decided for hand-to-hand.

He threw a punch. Tahiri caught the fist, turned around, and attempted to throw the robot over herself. Nefarious was stronger, and swung his arm over his head. She flew over, landed on her feet, and swung her foot low.

"DAA!" Nefarious was tripped. He fell forward, but stopped himself with his hands. He turned this into a summersault. He unfolded in a crouch with his ray guns.

Tahiri equipped a glove, which produced a circular holoshield. The ray guns weren't having an effect.

"Sure you don't need help?" Ratchet asked, leaning against the door to the roof.

"I'm fine!" Nefarious answered. "She's just using weapons, is all. I bet she doesn't know how to properly defend herself."

Several bombs flew towards his position.

Nefarious jumped up, and hovered. He concentrated, and unleashed his deadly purple beam from a newly-created wormhole.

Tahiri side-stepped, "Is that the best you can do?"

Nefarious landed besides her, and pushed her towards the beam that was still eating its way at her.

The Infernox-clad woman nimbly flipped over the beam.

"RAAAGH!" Nefarious pounced at her. He swiped at her with his sharp claws.

Tahiri held her arms up in an 'X' shape, blocking every one of his deadly swipes.

"HAAH!" Nefarious swept his foot, knocking his opponent off-balance and on her back. "I've got you--…………..now?"

A plasma storm was shoved right in his face from the grounded woman.

"Uh-oh," he said before he was blasted, and sent flying back. "Nnngh!" he hit the wall hard. "You got lucky, punk," he seethed. "Ratchet, I'm gonna be humble just this once."

The lombax took that as his queue. He ran at the intruder, and randomly swung his wrench.

Tahiri jumped over him, landed behind him, and shoved.

Ratchet lurched forward. He grunted, spun, and did a comet-strike. Tahiri had jumped over the spinning wrench in the nick of time. While still airborne, she equipped a multi-star, and unleashed several shuriken.

Ratchet held his breath as he spun his wrench in front of him like a fan, deflecting every shot.

"Heads up, Ratchet!" Nefarious was running. He aimed with his guns, and destroyed more stars which had multiplied. "Haha!" he spun one gun on his finger. "Who's da man?.!"

"Not you!" Tahiri flew out of nowhere, and kicked him right in the face. "That's for sure!"

Ratchet sighed.

"You're pathetic," Tahiri said to Nefarious as he rubbed his head. "I can't believe _you_ were the same person who controlled an army of tyhrranoids."

"So I've gotten a little rusty…," Nefarious uttered with a shrug. "Big deal. It's you who's pathetic; not even noticing that she's about to get kicked by a metal foot."

"Huh?" Tahiri's question was answered when Qwark kicked her in the rear, just below her tail, from behind with his cybernetic foot. The force was so strong, that she flew and fell on her front.

"Okay, I admit it wasn't very manlike of me to strike someone who isn't ready," Qwark stood, cracking his knuckles, "…much more, a female, but it's become personal!" he uttered the last part with a frown. "You really hurt me back there, and I tell ya, not even nanotech can cure this bruise!"

"The 'great' Captain Qwark is worried about a little bruise?" Nefarious tilted his head to the side. "And she says I'M pathetic…"

"Watch it," Qwark pointed a big finger. "You don't know pain."

"Feh," Nefarious waved him off.

"Do you two mind?" Ratchet gestured at the thief.

"Oh, sure."

"Yeah, I forgot."

They formed a triangle around her.

"Raaagh!" Nefarious dove with a claw.

Tahiri back-flipped out of the way. She landed with her back to Qwark, who attempted to grab her. Instead, she caught his arm, and threw him over herself. The superhero just missed accidentally landing on Nefarious, who was quick enough to jump backwards.

Ratchet approached her with his wrench at the ready. Tahiri side-flipped towards Qwark's direction. The superhero had just picked himself up. He swung a fist at her helmet. She ducked, and Qwark's fist flew into Ratchet's hastily-raised wrench.

Tahiri rolled under Qwark.

Nefarious saw it. He made a plasma-charged fist, and swung for an uppercut. Tahiri jerked to the side. She did several back-flips.

Qwark ran up to her, pulled out his taser, and prepared to give the woman an electric shock.

Tahiri did a high-kick, and knocked the taser out of his hand.

"What the--?" Qwark was cut off as she was shoved backwards by Tahiri's immense push.

Ratchet and Nefarious came at her from both sides.

"HYAAH!" Tahiri jumped up, did a split in midair, and sent both of them backwards.

Ratchet was quick enough to raise his wrench in the way. Nefarious was hit in the face once again.

"RAA-AAGH!" Qwark charged at her with his fists ready to knock Tahiri off the roof.

She effortlessly caught his latex-clad fists. Qwark gasped, and managed to pull his left fist away. Tahiri's left fist suddenly squeezed Qwark's hand, putting the superhero in extreme pain.

"AAAAAGH!" Qwark fell to his knees. "OW! OW! OW!" he screamed when he heard his wrist crack.

A hologram flew into Tahiri, causing her to lose her grip on Qwark's hand. She flew in Ratchet's direction.

Qwark clutched his broken wrist.

"That looks pretty bad," Nefarious said, examining the wrist. "What the Hell happened?"

"I d-dunno," Qwark stuttered. He nervously fumbled in his belt for something. "She just grabbed my fist, and broke it." He had a handful of nanotech. "It was amazing," he relaxed as he was healed. "It's as if she has super strength."

"Could be," Nefarious said casually.

They looked, and saw Ratchet battling with the thief.

Nefarious' red eyes narrowed. He noticed that the left sleeve of Tahiri's armour was much thicker than the right.

Ratchet landed from a back-flip after dodging a deadly punch.

Tahiri noticed Nefarious and Qwark heading straight for her. She grunted, "Okay, I've had enough of you!" she jumped Ratchet's swipe, ducked, Qwark's punch, and blocked Nefarious' kick.

She equipped a glove, and threw a ball. The sphere turned into a cylinder with a tiny turret mounted on top. Two darts flew, and imbedded themselves in Ratchet's and Qwark's necks. The lombax and superhero both fell on their backs, paralyzed from the neck down.

"I can't move!" Ratchet's head thrashed left and right, being the only body part which could still be mobile.

"We've been immobilized from the neck down," Qwark stated

"Not to worry," Nefarious stood in a fighting stance. "I'm still mobile."

"We're doomed," Qwark muttered.

Tahiri equipped a gun, and shot out a glowing green ball in Nefarious' direction.

The robot's eyes widened, recognising the weapon. He jumped back, but the blast radius was bigger than he expected. He fell flat on his face, near Qwark, sparking.

"EMP grenade," Ratchet stated.

"Like the paralyze glove, it's temporary, but it gives me time to escape," Tahiri made her way to the roof entrance. "I'll be seeing you around, losers. Hehehe."

Her armoured hand moved to open the door--

**WHAM!**

The door flew open, and slammed her aside. Plasma Man stepped on the roof, out of breath.

"I'm….here….," he panted.

"What took you so long?" Qwark asked him.

"The…..elevator…….was……out of order…..," he explained, leaning against the door. "Why are you……on the…….floor…..?"

"Our little, armoured thief paralyzed Ratchet and I, and short-circuited Nefarious with an EMP grenade."

"Which reminds me," Ratchet added as Plasma Man stepped closer to them, "LOOK OUT!.!.!.!.!"

The paralyzing cylinder sensed Plasma Man's presence, and shot a single dart towards his neck. The dart bounced off his neck, leaving him unharmed. The armoured man raised a foot, and crushed the cylinder.

"Where is she?" Plasma Man inquired.

"Right above you," Ratchet stated.

By instinct, Plasma Man sun around to see Tahiri descending towards him with a walloper equipped.

He jumped backwards, almost stepping on Qwark's no longer broken wrist.

"I'll lure her away from you," he blocked a punch that was meant for his masked face.

"Can you take her by yourself when you're out of breath?" Qwark was doubtful.

"I'm confident I'm capable."

A few seconds later, they were on the other side of the roof.

"What the heck's so important about that chip you stole, anyway?" Plasma Man asked.

"None of your business," Tahiri answered. "And you're gonna pay for that surprise punch before, and slamming the door in my face!" she clenched a fist.

"I'm sure it didn't hurt such a strong girl like you," Plasma Man taunted, his deep voice taking on a smart tone.

Tahiri grunted, suddenly losing her cool. She replaced her walloper with her devastator. She aimed, and pulled the bazooka's trigger.

Plasma Man ducked under the projectile, and equipped a plasma whip. He flung the weapon at his opponent's ankle. Thanks to her armour, Tahiri wasn't affected by the deadly plasma; instead the weapon was like a regular whip.

Plasma Man pulled as hard as he could.

"Whooaaaa!" Tahiri was pulled off her feet. She flew in Plasma Man's direction.

The armoured man raised a foot to meet her. For a split second, he had forgotten that she didn't let go of her devastator. Tahiri flew towards him, and smacked him in the head with her rocket launcher.

"Nnngh!" Plasma Man stumbled backwards, dropping his plasma whip.

Tahiri ran up to him, jumped, and landed a foot in his chest.

Plasma Man staggered further towards the edge of the roof.

Tahiri landed, and aimed her devastator. "Say 'goodbye'," she said as the missile flew.

Plasma Man's eye-patches narrowed in sequence with his masked eyes. He extended his hands with open palms. A single ball of plasma, similar to Nefarious' but brighter, formed. It flew from his hands, and caused the devastator missile to explode on contact.

"So, that's why you call yourself 'Plasma Man'," Tahiri mused. "You can create and manipulate plasma, and use it as a weapon."

"A rather vague way of putting it, but yes….," he answered. "I'll give you the chemistry-physics lesson after you've ended up in jail."

"Fat chance, Plasma Puss."

"Ouch, you have officially hurt my feelings."

"Your feelings aren't the only things that are gonna get hurt!" she prepared to fire.

"What are they blabbing about?" Qwark asked Ratchet. They were still paralyzed.

"I don't know, but I think I can move again," Ratchet replied. He stood up, and dusted himself off.

"Hey!" Qwark frowned. "What about me? I can barely move my fingers."

"Guess it doesn't last as long on lombaxes as it does on you," Ratchet bent over to pick up his wrench. "I'll take it from here. I think we've tired her out a bit."

"Fine," Qwark said sadly. "Go, and claim all the glory."

"Sure," Ratchet said with a chuckle.

Plasma Man was expertly blocking all of Tahiri's kicks and punches, and vice versa. When the armoured woman saw Ratchet coming in their direction, she did a back-flip that kicked Plasma Man right in the chin.

She ran, and jumped over the roof's edge.

Ratchet gasped, and looked over the edge.

Tahiri fell, and suddenly, a big, green paraglider emerged from her armour. She drifted towards a building.

"I'm sorry I let her get away, Ratchet," Plasma Man calmly said over the lombax's shoulder.

"No problem," Ratchet replied. "Take care of Qwark and Nefarious until they can move again, will ya?"

"And what will you be doing?" Plasma Man watched as the lombax stood on the roof's wall.

"Catching her," Ratchet said before jumping.

Plasma Man watched as the wings of Ratchet's glider sprung out from both sides. Gloved hands held on tight to the glider as the lombax flew after Tahiri.

Plasma Man sighed. "Oh well. Plenty of time to kick butt later."

* * *

Ratchet touched down on a random apartment as the wings of his glider shrunk in on themselves. 

"Just won't give up, will you, Ratchet?" Tahiri asked, casually leaning against an A/C unit.

"I like to make sure that I come for what I wanted," Ratchet answered, lowering his wrench. "And I want that chip."

"You're not gonna get it!" she exclaimed. "For once, enjoy the fact that I'm not trying to kill you, and stop following me!"

"What's the chip for, Tahiri?" Ratchet's face was stern. His brow was furrowing. His tail was as high as his ears.

A chuckle sounded from inside the Infernox helmet, "Wait awhile, and you'll find out. It's about time stole something from Gibson Labs."

"I won't let you get away with it!" Ratchet equipped his blitz cannon.

Tahiri darted to the side, and equipped a tesla claw. Ratchet just barely flipped over the beam of electricity that was shot at him. After he landed, several bombs flew his way. He twirled his wrench, and managed to deflect all of them.

Tahiri stood calmly. "This fight is over," she said. "It was fun, but now it's just getting redundant."

"If you're fed up with fighting, then hand over the chip and your ass to us!" Ratchet glared.

Tahiri pressed a button on her left wrist. Instantly, a scarlet ship with countless slots materialized above her, and behind near her.

Ratchet's eyebrows rose.

"Cloaking devise," Tahiri answered before he could question.

Ratchet heaved a knowing sigh, "You could have escaped anytime you felt like it."

"That's right," Tahiri's helmet nodded. "I just wanted to give you some hopeless hope before leaving."

Ratchet's jaw tightened. "You're just gonna leave like that?" he wanted to stall, even tough it was futile.

"Yes, I am," she sounded a little irritated now. "I have other things to do."

"Heh, you're the second person to decide against killing me today," Ratchet couldn't help but smile.

"Consider that lucky," Tahiri said as her ship's cockpit door slid open ever so sleekly. "I'll see you later." She jumped in.

The vessel was already rising before the cockpit door slid closed. The ship flew towards the sky at full speed.

Ratchet hurriedly equipped his visibomb. He spun around, and aimed towards the sky, but Tahiri's ship had disappeared.

He was rather angered. One moment he was taking down Pincer, and the next, he was taken down by a seemingly invincible thief.

"Rrrrrgh!" he punched the ground with his fist. "She got away."

* * *

Please pardon that fact that this chapter took so long. You're all going to have to get used to it, as these upcoming chapters are sort of long. 

I should let you all know that I won't update for a little while, cuz I feel my other story needs a few new chapters.

Anyway, these three chapters barely have anything to do with one another, but the next chapter and few others that follow will stick to a particular subject…but it won't be the _main _subject yet. Be patient 'till then.

Something stupid: I'm constantly debating over whether weapons' names should be capitalized or not. Anyone care to tell me what to do?


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